Kenneth Cook

A young schoolteacher descends into personal moral degradation after finding himself stranded in a brutal, menacing town in outback Australia.

John Grant is returning to Sydney after a year teaching at a one-classroom school in the Outback. Shortly after hitting the road, he collides with a kangaroo, and finds himself marooned in a small mining town, awaiting repairs on his car. With little to do but drink beer, John is seduced into a raucous, illegal game of two-up. After a short, exhilarating winning streak, he loses everything, which triggers a dangerous series of events that render John a broken and desperate man.

John Shaw, a photojournalist arrives in Australia trying to recover from his experiences reporting on the Vietnam War. After meeting a young woman in a small-town bar, he decides to detour into the Outback to photograph cave paintings. Out there, under the baking sun, people can die within hours. But the elements are not the most hazardous thing in the bush, and Shaw and his mysterious companion soon find themselves caught up in an unrelenting fight for survival.

When reporter Danny Gallagher and photographer Sally Woodrow team-up to crack an international animal smuggling racket, the gang behind the operation leads the reckless pair on a chase across Australia straight into the jaws of fatal danger.

This musical tells the story of the 1854 Eureka Stockade rebellion by the gold miners in Ballarat. It was adapted from a play by novelist Kenneth Cooke.